Saturated ground topples trees around the Bay Area

The stormy weather on Wednesday morning caused all sorts of problems. One big one was the toppling of trees all over the Bay Area. Dozens came crashing down in San Francisco alone.

Talk about a rude awakening. Scott Sypult and his family had a 100-foot Cyprus tree crash down onto their home on Lurmont Terrace in San Francisco's Russian Hill neighborhood. One big part of the tree speared through the couple's bedroom, mere feet away from where Scott and his wife slept.

"We were asleep, we woke up," Scott said. "And, you know, thank the lord we're here to talk to you about it. Cause it was a big tree. It fell right over my head. Luckily one of the branches, the main trunk of the tree fell into our yard and then one branch fell into the house."

The tree came down around 7 a.m. The main trunk of the tree fell into their backyard, while other big pieces crashed onto the roof and the second floor balcony. No

Luckily no one was hurt, though the Sypult family may have to spend the holidays in a hotel while repairs on their home continue.

The Department of Public Works maintains and is responsible for about 40,000 neighborhood trees. Crews were busy Wednesday.

"We had about a dozen big tree limbs or trees come down in San Francisco in different neighborhoods," said Rachael Gordon with DPW. "We got our crews out right away to remove them."

A black Acacia tree fell on a Prius, damaging the hood and roof of the car. It happened on 25th Avenue and Lake Street in San Francisco's Richmond District. It took a three-man crew less than 20 minutes to cut it down.

"The age of the tree, the water comes and gets saturated on top, the roots get saturated and nature takes its course after that," said Bob Jenkins with DPW.

Meanwhile, at Geary Boulevard and 14th Avenue in the city's Richmond District, though a eucalyptus tree is still standing, huge branches from the tree came crashing down onto a Camry below. The car's owner says it's totaled, but the good news is the city has promised to pay for it.

And at Lyman Road in Oakland's Oakmore neighborhood, a towering Redwood came down on top of a house. Neighbors said they heard a loud crash around a quarter after seven. Luckily a car there was spared.